The upward pressure on public companies' audit fees seen in the wake of Sarbanes-Oxley seems to have subsided, with the average audit fees paid by public companies rising 2% in 2010, to $3.3 million, according to a survey by Financial Executives International.
That 2% rise in fees in 2010 followed a 2.4% decline in audit fees in 2009 and a 2.2% rise in 2008, according to FEI data. “It looks as if it's going up and down,” says Bill Sinnett, director of research at Financial Executives Research Foundation.
The FEI survey shows private companies paid average audit fees of $222,300 last year, little changed from what they paid in 2009. FEI surveyed 98 public companies and 124 private companies.
The survey found that public company audits took an average of 12,540 hours and private company audits averaged 3,394 hours.
According to the survey, 83% of the public companies used Big Four auditors, vs. just 34% of the private companies.
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to Treasury & Risk, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited Treasury & Risk content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Thought leadership on regulatory changes, economic trends, corporate success stories, and tactical solutions for treasurers, CFOs, risk managers, controllers, and other finance professionals
- Informative weekly newsletter featuring news, analysis, real-world case studies, and other critical content
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
